


The first time we met

by Kappz



Category: Harvest Moon, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
Genre: (or in this case just the one sorry rod), (sorry for any oocness i wrote this really late at night), (well more like. minimum plot. kinda plot), First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Meeting the Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 11:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20007298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kappz/pseuds/Kappz
Summary: Rick meets a peculiar salesman and keeps running into him, wether he means to or not.





	The first time we met

**Author's Note:**

> You ever find an old fanfic ship on fanfic.net and stay up all night writing a fic for it?? taitofan on ff.net if you’re somehow reading this.. (pounds chest and makes a peace sign) 
> 
> Also i dusted off the old account to post this so uh, hi i'm not dead.

The first time Rick and Won met was around Spring. It was just a few days after he'd come to town, but Rick hadn't even known anyone new was in town until he saw him walking over at six in the morning. The first thing that'd caught Rick's eye was his brightly colored clothing as Won made his way over, it stuck out even with the sun still rising over the horizon, but the next was the black suitcase beside him. "Oh, hello! Are you the owner of this establishment?" He asked as Rick was setting out some feed for the chickens. "..No, this is my mom's shop. Who are you?" Rick asked, a little baffled anyone besides him would be walking around so early. 

"Ah, well. My name is Won. I'm a traveling salesman. Would you be interested in browsing my wares?" Ah, that explained it. But still, no shame in browsing a little, right? "Sure, I don't see why not." Rick said, walking over to the end of the fence as he tried not to step on any of the hens trotting around him. He watched as Won swung his suitcase open, pulling out apples one by one. Rick tried to keep track as Won kept throwing out these bizarre and overly complicated names for them, but each one just seemed to blend all together, and the acronyms weren't helping. But still, he tried to keep up anyways. "Price is 500g. Very cheap, very cheap. Which will it be?" Rick had to think for a second. He had some money on him to afford it but.. 500 for an apple was kind of outrageous. 

But then again, maybe it wouldn't hurt to get a treat for the hens, they'd been doing so good this Spring. "Sure, I'll take that one." He pointed casually to the closest one, digging to grab the funds in his pocket as he watched Won's eyes light up from behind his glasses. "Ah, thank you! Many thanks!" It couldn't hurt to indulge him a little, and especially not the hens. The transaction was quick and painless, or at least, not physically. "Have a good day!" Rick watched Won walk away, suitcase swinging as Rick tried to keep the apple from falling into an eager hen's mouth.

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The second time was around the end of that Spring, and he had to visit Zack and pick up some orders of seed for his mom.

"Oh, hello Rick!" Zack said as he turned to him, a smile stretching across his face as Won's eyes glanced over to him. "Hey, Zack. I'm just here to pick up that feed my mom ordered. Do you know if it's here yet?" Rick asked as Zack was about to answer but paused, pressing a hand to his lip as he looked over to the boxes behind Won. "..Let me check the ship outside, it might be in one of those boxes. I'll be right back, okay?" He said, patting Rick on the back as Rick nearly stumbled a bit by the force of it. 

"S- Sure. I'll just stay right here." He watched Zack leave before looking over to Won, trying to think of something to break the sudden uncomfortable silence. "So.. This is where your shop is?" That sounded a lot smoother in his head. "Why yes, this IS my shop. Thank you for noticing." Won chuckled a bit, easing up the atmosphere as Rick was still a bit tense. "I mostly sell seeds, I've got some flower seeds if you'd like to plant some... I'm sure your mom would appreciate it very much, no?" Won started on his sales pitch before Rick quickly shut him down. "Sorry, I don't really have any money on me right now. Maybe next time." Well, 'next time' was better than an 'absolutely not.' "Well, I'm always here from eleven to four if you want to stop by again and buy something." He gave a somewhat sly smile to Rick, almost making him forget he was waiting for Zack before he snuck up on him. "Rick-" His body tensed up as he turned to Zack. "Goodness, sorry buddy... Didn't mean to scare you!" Zack chuckled a bit as Rick calmed down. "I looked in there, and it's just about in the back. I'll bring it over once I'm done with my shipping runs." Rick took a deep breath. "Alright, thank you. Well, I'll be leaving then... Goodbye, Zack." He turned around a bit before closing the door behind him. "Goodbye Won." 

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The third time they met was almost entirely on accident. It was when he'd been having yet another argument with Kai by the beach. It wasn't a surprise Won could hear all that yelling as the two were bickering again, especially with Rick quickly losing his temper. He stormed off from the two of them as Kai shrugged it off yet again and walked back into his shop, but Won seemed a bit interested in what was happening.

".. I'll be right back, I need to go do something." Won said suddenly, sitting up when he heard the yelling die down. It wasn't like he was getting much business today anyways. "Alright, if you say so." Zack raised an eyebrow, but then again, Won was always doing weird things in the name of profit anyways, so he assumed this was no different. Won managed to catch Rick storming up to the Rose Square as Kai walked back inside his shop, softly closing the door behind him as he followed behind. Rick huffed a bit as he sat down on the bench, crossing his arms and muttering to himself. He looked down to his side, almost not even hearing Won approach in his moody state. "Oh, uh... Hey." Rick said when he saw Won standing right by him, suddenly remembering just how loud he was being. "Did you hear all that? I'm sorry, I just-" He sighed, neglecting to notice as Won sat down beside him as he started up his rant. 

"I just can't stand that guy; he's way too... He's just so cocky!" Rick complained, getting all bothered again at the thought. "I don't see why my sister's so obsessed with him, he's only ever here for one season and when he is. He's just so annoying, and he doesn't know how to take no for an answer! I swear, sometimes I think he acts like that just to get under my skin!" By now Won would have usually tried to sell him something to calm him down, but he seemed a little caught up in Rick's ranting. 

"I'm worried Popuri's just going to ignore everything I say and go after him anyway, and she's gonna break her heart... He's going to break her heart, and she can't handle that kind of rejection. That or he's going to convince her to run away from Mineral Town, and I'm not sure mom could handle that either, you know?" Rick asked as Won nodded, not sure what to even say as he tried to process all that. "..Thank you for listening. I think I feel better now." Rick took a deep breath as he stood up, Won watching patiently. "I'm gonna head home now, but uh... Have a good day." He said, quickly heading back home as Won stood up and headed back down to the beach.   
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Rick went down to the beach often after that, sometimes to make sure Kai wasn't causing any trouble, but he liked to stop by Won's shop too. The two talked a bit, he would occasionally buy some flowers to plant around the farm, and both would end the day just a bit happier. It almost seemed like this summer went by faster than usual, but maybe he wasn't just checking the calendar and waiting around as often as he used to. The chicken festival came and went, as did the cow festival, and soon was the fireworks festival. 

He headed down around Six PM with his family, watching as everyone else moved around to their spot on the beach and his eyes looked over to Karen. He'd wanted to watch the fireworks with her this year, it had been such a long time since he got to.. Rick remembered when he was young and the two always watched them together, but it seemed like they almost stopped when she was getting older. He stood up from the blanket as he went to ask Karen, but Rick quickly stopped when he saw the local farmer make his way over to her and ask her something.

"You want to watch with me? Sure, okay!" She said to him as Rick's heart sank a little. Oh, there went his plans... He watched as the two walked over to the pier, gripping his shirt a little as he tried to think of something to do. He didn't want to watch them with his family again, and Karen was obviously too busy. Then he noticed that there was a light in Zack's home and a light shone in his head. No shame in asking for help when you've been beaten down already, right? He took a chance and knocked on the door, waiting a bit as he felt his heart race until Won opened the door. "Hey! I uh- I wanted to ask if you wanted to watch the fireworks with me... I mean- you can watch them with me if you'd like.." He waited, giving his best smile as he tried to prepare himself for another rejection.

"Sure, if you want me to." He felt his body loosen up a bit as he watched Won shrug. "Great!" Rick said, eagerly leading Won over to an empty spot on the beach. "So, have you ever been to this kind of festival before?" Rick asked as he sat down on the sand. "Not exactly, we had something similar back home, but not really with all the fireworks.." Won said, sitting down as he stared up at the moon. "Oh, I think you'll like them, they're always beautiful and bright here!" Rick said, smiling a bit more focused on looking at Won as their eyes met behind their glasses. "The fireworks in Forget-me-not valley are pretty too, but the ones here are always my favorite." Rick smiled as Won couldn't help but smile a little too. "Oh-! I think they're starting!" Rick tugged on Won's sleeve to get his attention as if he didn't already have it.

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After the night passed, Rick went upstairs to sleep, but he was interrupted by Popuri just before he could slink into bed. "Who was that?" Rick looked over his shoulder to his sister, tilting her head a bit. "..Who do you mean?" He asked, trying to play stupid as Popuri wasn't buying it. "Oh come on, you know what I mean. That guy with the hat you spent the night watching the fireworks with! Mom was asking me all about him, but I haven't met him before!" Rick's cheeks flushed a little at the thought, getting a bit embarrassed. "He's just a friend who stays with Zack. We're JUST friends, okay?" He tried to deter his sister from prying further, but if anything, that just made her more interested. "Oh come on, can't you at least tell me his name? Pleeeease?" Popuri asked, trying to give Rick puppy dog eyes as he caved in quickly. "Fine. His name is Won. He's a wandering salesman." He sighed, sitting up. "Really? I've never met him before, is he nice?" Popuri asked, sitting criss-cross on her bed as Rick looked beside himself. 

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." When he wasn't trying to peddle something to him or talking on and on about money at least.. "Are you gonna tell mom?" She asked as Rick raised an eyebrow. "Tell her what?" Popuri giggled a bit. "About your new friend! You seem to like him; surely she's gonna want to invite him over for dinner!" Rick got a little flustered at the thought. "Ah- I'm not sure, I mean- He's kind of busy a lot and.." He tried to come up with more excuses as Popuri seemed amused. "I get it, I get it. I'll be sure to let mom know when you get married!" Popuri snickered as Rick almost threw his pillow at her in a fit of embarrassment.

"I'm kidding! Geez, don't get too moody about it.." She pouted a bit, still trying to stop herself from giggling. Rick huffed like a disgruntled hen, setting his pillow back as he crossed his arms and flopped back into bed. "Well, either way, I'm glad you're making new friends." Popuri said as she tucked herself in. "Goodnight, Rick." Rick sighed softly. "Night Popuri." 

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Rick had begun to lose track of how many times they'd met up again. Days faded into nights as the leaves turned orange and red. He made sure to stop by even when he couldn't excuse it as him just stopping by after watching out for Kai or him just checking up on him.. Or when he couldn't even come up with an excuse at all. Lillia often let him head out a little earlier each time to stop by, even if she didn't know too much about him, she was at least happy Rick was talking to someone else in town. 

It almost seemed natural to ask Won first if he was willing to go with him to the summit of Mother's Hill for the moon rising, even if Karen first crossed his mind he'd seen how often she was talking with that new farmer. It almost seemed like she never really had any time for him at all with Pete around. He just figured Pete had already beaten him to the punch anyways, what point was there in just asking to get rejected? He waited a bit closer to when the shop was closing to knock gently on the door, usually Won would have just ignored knocking after hours, but he seemed a bit more agreeable after he and Rick started meeting. "Hello? Oh, hello Rick." His heart raced a bit as Won's eyes locked with his. "Hi, sorry to bother you so late but.. I'm going to go watch the moon rise at the summit of Mother's Hill in a bit for the Moon Viewing Festival, and I was wondering if you'd-"

"Sure, I'll go with you." Rick couldn't even finish his sentence as Won smiled softly. "Oh-! Thank you!" He said, a bit caught off guard as he smiled. He led Won down to the forest, making small talk as two walked along the path. Won hadn't gone out for festivals before he started talking with Rick, maybe it was just because he seemed to hype up every festival like it was the greatest thing ever, or perhaps it was to make him happy. It almost slipped his mind as he held onto Won's hand, his cheeks flushing a little when he noticed... But he didn't seem to want to let go so soon. After a bit of heaving and heavy breathing, the two finally made their way up the summit, and just in time. The moon was spottable just along the horizon as Rick felt his heart race. Whether that was from hiking up the summit of their hands intertwined was anyone's guess.

"We made it!" Rick exclaimed as Won stood in place to catch his breath, he was a lot less used to hiking up mountains and running all around the area like Rick was. "C' mon, let's go and sit down, we should be able to watch it rise!" Rick said as he nearly dragged Won along with him, sitting near the edge as he looked over to the moon. It was always the prettiest when you could see it from the top of the summit, almost enough to make Won a little less worried about high up they were. "It's always nice to watch the moon; my family used to do it when my dad was around but... Nevermind, let's just focus on the moon, okay?" Rick almost trailed off and ruined the mood, but he quickly tried to scramble back as Won looked over to him. "Alright, if you say so.." 

Rick tried to stay positive around him, or at least he didn't want to make Won worry about anything other than business, but that wasn't going to stop Won. "Well, I'm glad I have someone else to watch it with this time anyways." Rick smiled as he gently leaned on Won and the night faded away before them. Before Rick even realized it, it was time for the two to head home and separate ways. He made sure to hold onto Won's hand as the two made their way back, both for the feeling of safety and perhaps something else. "Well, after this is the horse race... The Sheep festival... Then my birthday, and after that, we have the-" "When's your birthday?" Rick stopped a bit as he looked behind him. "... It's the 27th." He replied, figuring that he'd just give him some kind of special birthday discount or something. 

But sure enough, after he got home and the 27th arrived, he woke up to a small wooden crate with a poorly wrapped apple inside on his doorstep, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened there.

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Visits with winter were a little more frequent; he didn't have to watch over the chickens as much since they were often inside the hut; nobody was running around; it was pretty peaceful. The two often spent the day together, even if they didn't talk and Won was sitting and counting some profits, the two seemed to prefer each other's company more than just sitting alone. If anything, it just made them feel a little less lonely, and Won seemed to be willing to listen to Rick when he was ranting his mind off. So really, it shouldn't have been as much of a surprise as Won felt it was when Rick asked him to the Starry Night Festival. But still, he couldn't help but feel caught a little off guard. 

"Are you sure?" He asked without even thinking, looking to a somewhat surprised Rick. "Sure, I don't see why not! I mean, we're close, right? Besides, you didn't seem this worried when I asked you the last festival." Won looked to him, he wasn't wrong but... He wasn't sure the family would accept him so easily. "..Well, I suppose I don't have anything else to do-" He had no way to weasel his way out now, he couldn't just say no to him now. Besides, he and Zack were probably going to ignore the holiday and go to bed early anyway. "Great! You can come by around six. My mom will probably be happy to have more people to cook for!" Rick was nearly grinning from ear to ear as he ran out the door, leaving Won at his counter to think about what he just agreed to.

Sure enough, he was already anxious about it even a couple hours before the dinner even started, pacing around the shop a bit as Zack watched him. "Something wrong?" Zack asked as Won quickly swung around to face him before dismissing it. "Just waiting for something, I'm heading out to meet a friend." Zack chuckled a bit to himself. "You mean Rick? You're already getting worried about that?" He asked as Won pouted a bit. "I'm sure you'll be fine, Won. Lillia's a nice girl and Popuri is always happy to meet new people.." He tried to calm Won down a little, but he was still anxious. "Besides, that guy's totally head over heels for you anyways; I doubt he'll be angry with you for long if you are late."

That seemed to catch Won's attention and amuse Zack. He was a lot more predictable than he thought. "So just relax, you'll be fine." 

Rick waited impatiently by the table for his guest, tapping his foot a bit as he sat in his chair as still as he could manage like this. "It's only like a minute past six Rick; I think your boyfriend isn't going to just ditch you so quickly." Popuri said as Rick glared over at her. "He's not my boyfriend." He retorted as Popuri brushed the notion off. "Sure he isn't." She snorted as Rick still looked cranky and Lillia tried to break it up before it even started. "Popuri, don't tease your brother. He's just nervous." She said as Popuri sat back in her chair. "Fine.." She said as Rick stuck his tongue out a little. "You too, Rick." 

Won finally made his way inside as Lillia quickly turned her attention to the door, spotting the somewhat exhausted salesman. He didn't even really understand why he was in this situation until he thought about it, and how he'd somehow accidentally gotten close with Rick like this. But he didn't regret it nearly as much when he saw how his face lit up when he finally made it there. "Won, you're here!" He happily exclaimed, nearly getting out his chair. 

"Good evening, come and sit over here. The dinner is ready." Lillia said as she stayed calm, unlike her two children, sitting patiently as she waited for Won to make his way over. "My mom and I made the feast today! Come on, dig in!" Popuri said excitedly, both for her work and finally getting to see her brother's Not-Quite-But-Still-Kinda boyfriend. "My brother looks very happy." She couldn't help but mention as she watched him get a bit flustered. "Popuri!" He said as she giggled a bit. "Now, let's eat before the food gets cold." Lillia said, already going to get her serving. "Okay, let's eat!" Rick said, more than eager to get started.  
"So, tell me, Won. How'd you and Rick meet?" Popuri managed to ask right as Won was already eating, this family had a talent for catching him off guard he swore. "Well, we met when I was making my rounds. We later started talking when he went to pick up some feed, and we just started talking more and more." Won said, conveniently leaving out the part where he bought his useless junk before that. 

"Do you like chickens?" Popuri asked as Won looked over to Rick. He was worried no matter how he felt about them; they might have ended up kicking him out if he said something wrong. "Sure. Love them." Won smiled as best as he could as Popuri seemed pleased. "I thought so! I think people who like Chickens are just good people, don't you agree?" She beamed as Rick smiled at Won. Maybe this wasn't going to go as badly as he thought.

Popuri asked more and more questions throughout the night, eager to get to know as much about her brother's 'friend' as Rick insisted she leave him alone for a bit and let him eat in peace, but that didn't stop her. He didn't seem too upset, if not a little confused by the questions. Eventually, it was time for him to head home, with Lillia insisting he stop by again sometime if he could. It was certainly tempting. 

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A spring wedding was always beautiful, but it hurt a bit to watch as Karen walked down the aisle with Pete. Rick thought it wouldn't hurt as much after he'd seen them talk so often and be so loving towards each other, but he couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. Memories of two of them playing together seemed to flood through his mind as he watched Karen walk past with the bouquet, wondering for just a moment if he could have been the one in Pete's place. Still, he didn't want to be bitter for his best friend, even if it hurt he wanted her to be happy, and hopefully, she was glad this way. 

Karen stopped by the doorway as she tossed the bouquet in the air, Rick had heard of the old myth that if you caught it, you'd be the next to be married, but he never really believed in that kind of thing... Until it landed nearly right into his lap. "Aw, I wanted to get it!" Popuri pouted, sitting back down in the poofy dress she put on for the occasion. "Still, I wonder when you're gonna get married!" She didn't seem too deterred, though. "..Maybe soon." He said, his mind thinking of a certain man with long black hair as he couldn't help but smile a bit.


End file.
